


no thoughts only gay solidarity

by crazycrab



Category: Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hugs, One Shot, Other, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, sibling dynamic excellence, u can pry their made up friendship from my cold dead hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:35:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24378838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazycrab/pseuds/crazycrab
Summary: rachel comforts brad ig idk lol
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	no thoughts only gay solidarity

**Author's Note:**

> if ur reading this then im sorry and also never adress me again ever <3

In all her years of gaming, Rachel’s eyelids had never felt heavier. Maybe it was because Dana wasn’t there to keep her company, or just because it was currently 11.43 pm and she had been working since early in the morning, but she didn’t think she could stay much longer. She uncrossed her legs and stretched them out, her foot had gone numb from sitting in the same position for so many hours.

Once she had turned the equipment off, she walked out of the booth. However, something caught her eye as she was heading out: she could see through the blinds that the lights on Brad’s office we’re still on. _‘That’s weird_ ’, Rachel thought to herself as she furrowed her brow, _‘_ _B_ _rad never stays late.._ _a_ _lways goes home whenever he can, the_ _asshole_ _.’_ For someone with so much money, he sure didn’t spend a lot of time actually working, and would instead just manipulate anyone (herself included) whenever he started to get a little bit too bored for his liking. Despite her co-worker’s intolerable attitude and her need for a good night of sleep, she decided to check on him. If something was keeping Brad here then she could only assume it was a pretty serious issue, and seeing as she also worked there she had a right to know, didn’t she?

Rachel didn’t bother with knocking and opened the door to the man’s office completely unannounced. That was her first mistake, her second one was saying: “Holy fuck, you look like shit, Brad” right to his face. Brad had his hands over his mouth and his eyes were noticeably red. _‘Had he been crying before she entered?_ _No._ _B_ _rad crying? That was the dumbest shit she could’ve thought about_ _’_ She didn’t have much time to keep wondering though, because before she could continue with her inner conversation, his co-worker finally spoke.

His hands were now supporting his chin, fingers interlaced. “Thanks,” Brad replied sarcastically as he offered a purposely fake smile. “Do you need anything or did you just barge into my office to tell me that?” He tilted his head to the side, the tone of his voice hadn’t changed.

Rachel knitted her brow and sighed. “Sorry, I just- I came in to check on you. It’s pretty late and you **never** stay late so..” She accompanied her explanation with some awkward hand movements. “I wanted to know if everything was fine, you know. And you don’t look that well either, so I was just wondering..” The tester shrugged hesitantly.

Brad raised a brow in disbelief, genuinely shocked that Rachel, someone he constantly treated like shit, would go out of her way if she suspected that anything was wrong with him. Of course he wouldn’t share how strangely comforting he found it.

“I don’t think anyone would look good after sitting in front of a screen for 4 hours straight.” He untangled his hands just to gesture at his bloodshot eyes. “And let me tell you, you’re not exactly in you prime either.” Brad motioned his hand up and down Rachel’s body, receiving an offended groan and an eye-roll from the woman in return.

Why did she even bother? Of course she would just get a few snarky remarks for worrying about him. She brushed it off (it’s not like she wasn’t used to it by now) and decided to focus on the more important matter. “What are you even doing that’s keeping you here until midnight? Because whatever you’re working on, I know for a fact you could do it from home.”

That was true, or at least it would have been if he had been working. Brad hadn’t touched or even looked at his computer for the past 50 minutes, and there was no way in hell he would let Rachel know about that.

“Since when do you care about what I do?” The man stood up and walked over to Rachel, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Which, by the way, is none of your concern, so maybe just leave and let me do my job. Oh, and mind your business next time.” His voice had a hint of arrogance to it, but it wasn’t as present as it would usually be. He used the hand on her shoulder to push her towards the door, to which Rachel struggled against with a huff.

She managed to turn around and scowled. “Okay, you know what, Brad? I’m tired of all this shit. We all get that you’re an ass but I was just trying to help you out. Would it kill you to just, thank me or something? Show some compassion every once in a while?” She finally snapped. She knew there had to be at least some emotion other than smugness inside of Brad.

“Excuse me? I didn’t even ask for your help, I don't owe you anything. If you can’t stay out of my life, that’s your own personal problem.” Brad was getting fed up. These were the only breaks for vulnerability he got and he couldn’t even be left alone. He finally paused and took a deep breath, pressing his palms together and taking his hands to his lips as he inhaled. “You know what, I’m sorry.” He really wasn’t, you didn’t have to be a genius at body language or human behavior to figure that out. “And you’re right.”

‘ _R_ _ed flag’_ , Rachel thought. _‘Brad would never admit he was wrong_ _that easily.’_ Maybe this was more serious than she had expected. “Oh.. shit,” she muttered, mouth open in shock. “You just said I was right.” It was a revelation. “Something is definitely wrong.”

“Yeah, you won’t leave me alone, that’s what’s wrong,” Brad replied harshly, his previous attempts at calming himself down clearly unsuccessful. “Seriously, why do you have to be so annoying? I decide to spend some time without any of you around **once** and suddenly you care?” He moved his hands around as he spoke, the frustration finally getting to him. This whole burst of emotion wasn’t the way he would normally behave, something that caught Rachel off guard.

An awkward silence lingered between the two when it became clear that none of this was work-related anymore, and Rachel could swear that Brad’s eyes were beginning to get watery. Her expression softened when the man rubbed his face to stop himself from crying, trying so hard to make it seem like something casual. This was a side of Brad that Rachel had never seen before. In fact, she was almost 100% convinced that **no one** had witnessed it, given that his gestures were all over the place, as if he wasn’t sure what to do. Brad, a man who had everything under control at all times, suddenly found himself.. so lost. Rachel, however, was no stranger to comfort. She decided to follow her first instinct and wrapped her arms around his thin torso, their height difference leaving her face buried on his shoulder, which wasn’t really the idea. Surprisingly enough, Brad didn’t step back, or push Rachel away, he just hugged back. It was pretty awkward at first, but taking into account that they had never been in this situation before, it could’ve been a lot worse.

They held each other for a few minutes more, letting go once Brad’s hands could no longer be felt on his co-worker’s back. The tall man let out a soft shaky sigh, gathering up the courage to look at Rachel in the eyes. “Thanks.. don’t tell anyone about this or I swear I’ll get you fired.” It was an empty threat and they both knew it.

“Pfft. Wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied with a smile. “I should head home, it’s late.” The woman stepped out of his office. She knew that since this was all new to Brad, it would probably overwhelm him if she stayed longer than needed. “See you tomorrow, dude.”

Brad made a face and shook his head. “Nope, not there yet,” he said in reference to the nickname. “Just keep calling me Brad, we’ll get there.” He paused. “If we’re unlucky enough.”

Rachel rolled her eyes and waved. “See you tomorrow, **Brad** ,” she repeated, an exaggerated amount of emphasis on his name, before finally leaving.

Once Rachel was out of sight, Brad smiled to himself, enjoying the remaining warmth that he felt from the hug they had shared just a few moments ago. She might be annoying, but she wasn't half as bad as he had thought.


End file.
